by Zena Wynn
“Wanted to get a run in before it got hot.”
As she poured coffee into the cup, she grinned at him. “Tomorrow let me know before you head out. A run would do me some good. I’ve been doing too much eating on the run and it’s starting to show in the hips.” Cassidy patted her hips with her free hand to emphasize before placing the coffee pot back on the burner.
“I love those hips,” her husband stated as he walked into the kitchen. “Those are good baby-bearing hips.” He patted her on the butt and swiped her coffee.
“Hey! Get your own.” Cassidy reached for the cup,
Philip held it out of reach. “Caffeine isn’t good for the baby,” he reminded.
Max perked up. “You’re pregnant? Congratulations!” He beamed at them.
Cassidy shook her head. “Not yet. Still trying.”
Max waggled his eyebrows at them. “Ah! That explains the noise I heard earlier as I was leaving.”
Cassidy felt her face flush and knew she was beet red. Her fair complexion blushed both vividly and easily. Philip let out a low, intimate laugh and Cassidy popped him on the arm. “Don’t encourage him.”
“Cassidy, I’m just teasing.” Max smiled and held up his hands in a don’t-hate-me gesture. “Can’t help myself when you blush so prettily.”
Phillip shook his head, his expression wry. “She’s a baby doctor. She knows what makes them. I don’t understand how she can still be so squeamish about sex.”
Stung and a little hurt that her husband was making her out to be a prude when she wasn’t, she lashed out. “I am not squeamish. I just don’t think something as intimate as sex is appropriate for group discussion. Or considered a spectator sport,” she finished with a glare at her husband.
The corners of Phillip’s eyes tightened, his jaw clenched, and his previously affectionate manner disappeared as he distanced himself from her. Cassidy closed her eyes, instantly remorseful. Damn, she’d overreacted. When had she lost her sense of humor about sex? “I’m sorry,” she said in a low voice. “You know how cranky I get when I haven’t had enough sleep.”
He smiled, good nature restored, and handed her the coffee back. “Here, you obviously need this more than I do. I’ll pour my own.”
Cassidy sighed in relief and took a large gulp of the still-hot coffee.
Phillip reached up and took down another cup, and on his way to the pot, paused to tug on Cassidy’s ponytail, tilting her face up. Dropping a kiss on her lips, he murmured, “I promise I’ll let you sleep tonight…after.”
She groaned, then laughed when he winked.
Two years ago, they’d hit a rough patch in their marriage. Counseling had solved a lot of their issues, but the one that still remained a bone of contention was what he termed her “vanilla” attitude toward sex. Cassidy didn’t think she was being unreasonable in not wanting to bring a third into their sex play, or her lack of desire to have sex in public. Nor was she into whips, chains, or spankings, but she’d experimented with a little light bondage and even consented to anal sex—which she totally didn’t get what the big deal was about, but it made Phillip happy, so she didn’t protest—but her concessions weren’t enough for her husband. He was always pushing, trying to get her to expand her boundaries. Apparently in the process, she’d become overly sensitive on the subject.
Oblivious to the undercurrents, Max glanced up from the paper and asked, “What’s your plans for today?”
“Plans,” Phillip asked, arching an eyebrow. “Am I mistaken or is this a vacation? Who makes plans?”
Max laughed. “I see you and Amber share the same vacation school of thought.”
“Well, I heard Orlando has a large flea market. I’d love to go see what they have,” Cassidy stated wistfully.
“Babe, it’s our first day of vacation,” Phillip protested. “Don’t you want to laze around, catch up on some much-needed rest?”
She gave him a slow, wicked grin. “We’ve already ‘lazed around.’ In case you haven’t noticed, it’s almost lunchtime. Besides, you know me. Once I’m up, I like to keep busy. I’d go crazy sitting around the condo doing nothing. I want to go shopping. I find it very relaxing.”
Her husband groaned. She knew he was trying to find a way out. This new, post- counseling Phillip was more considerate and made a real effort to do things with her. Things she liked. “We can get something to eat while we’re out,” she cajoled.
“Cassidy…” His tone bordered on a whine. Cassidy grinned, knowing she had him.
“Tell you what. You stay here and chill and I’ll take Cassidy shopping. I wouldn’t mind checking out that flea market myself. I know Amber won’t want to go. Her idea of shopping consists of highbrow designer stores or their equally high-priced air-conditioned outlet malls,” Max said.
Phillip looked hopeful. “Cassidy?”
She laughed and nodded. “All right, you big baby. You can stay here while Max and I bond. But it’s going to cost you,” she added before he could get too happy, rubbing her fingers together in the classic sign for “give me money.”
“Not as much as going with you would. Let me get my wallet.”
“How soon can we leave?” she asked Max, mind already shooting ahead to what treasures she might find.
“As soon as you’re ready. We can stop and get some lunch before hitting the market,” Max said.
Right then her stomach grumbled. “Sounds like a plan. Give me five minutes to go change and I’ll be ready.”
“Make it ten. I need a shower,” Max said with a grimace, indicating his workout attire.
They parted ways. Exactly ten minutes later they were headed out the door to Max’s car. He held the door for her to enter the low-sitting vehicle, then crossed around the front to the driver’s side and got in.
As he put the rental car in gear and backed out of the parking space, he admitted, “I had an ulterior motive for volunteering to come with you today.”
She glanced at him. “Yeah? What?”
“I want you to help me pick out an engagement ring. My taste in jewelry sucks. I need a woman’s opinion.”
Amber Wainwright, a physical therapist and fitness trainer, had come into Max’s life three years ago when she’d helped him recover from a sports-related knee injury. Being no fool, she’d wasted no time latching onto a good thing. Of course, Cassidy admitted, she was totally biased where Phillip’s friend was concerned.
Max was cover-model handsome, standing at six-two with the lean musculature of a long-distance runner, and possessing deep, crystal-blue eyes that could trap a woman in their gaze. His hair was a wavy, dark brown that he wore a bit long on top but cut short in the back, and right now, said hair was tousled carelessly. He sported the beginnings of a beard, giving him that bad-boy look that so many women—including her—found attractive.
He and Amber had been living together for the last two years. Phillip had said he thought Max was considering making the arrangement permanent. Cassidy wasn’t too sure how she felt about it. She wanted Max to be happy, wanted him to have a wife and family of his own, but there was something about Amber that she just couldn’t put her finger on…
It seemed Phillip was right. Max was serious about his relationship with Amber. “Sure, I’ll help,” she agreed, keeping her doubts about the wisdom of his decision to herself.
“Great,” he said, his relief evident. “We’ll eat first, shop for the ring, and then hit the flea markets. We should find everything we need on International Drive.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Later that day, they drove through the security gate of the resort complex, laughing and triumphant. Cassidy had what her father affectionately termed “her shopper’s glow.” It was that intensely satisfied feeling she got whenever she managed to purchase a lot of really neat items for little or no money. The flea market had been a gold mine of treasures, but they hadn’t limited themselves to just the one. International Drive proved to be a conglome
ration of malls, restaurants and everything else a vacationer could wish for.
“We’ve been gone all day. You think they’ll be mad?” Cassidy asked. The last time she’d checked in with Phillip he’d assured her he was fine and for her to have fun. She’d taken her husband at his word and thrown herself wholeheartedly into her shopping. That had been hours ago.
“Naw, besides, we brought Chinese, didn’t we? When I talked to Amber, she was lying out by the pool, working on her tan. I got the feeling she wasn’t missing me at all,” Max confessed with a rueful grin.
Cassidy chuckled. “I heard a game playing in the background so I doubt Phillip’s missing me all that much, either.” Her husband loved sports, all sports. Give him a game and a beer and he was a happy camper. Since there was a six-pack of tall cans in the fridge and a big forty-six- inch screen at the resort, Cassidy doubted her absence was noted either.
Max patted his pocket where a square-shaped lump protruded. “You’re sure she’ll like the ring?”
“She’d be an idiot not to,” Cassidy assured for what seemed like the hundredth time. “It’s gorgeous.” And expensive, she added mentally, which was all she thought Amber would really care about.
The ring featured a one-carat square solitaire diamond set in platinum with more diamonds lining the slim band. The engagement ring was designed to sit inside the wedding band, which had even more diamonds scattered as accents on the band. The whole thing set Max back a pretty penny, but as he’d explained, he only planned on doing this once so he might as well do it right.
“Cassidy,” Max said in a completely un-Max-like tone, “I really appreciate your assistance today.”
She waved his thanks away.
“I’m not finished,” he chided quietly as they wound their way down the lane to reach their unit. “You’re a classy lady. I’ve always thought so. Phillip’s a lucky bastard to have you.”
Cassidy shifted in her leather seat, both pleased and embarrassed by the compliment. “Thank you.”
“You know I make it a policy to stay out of your and Phillip’s business…”
That’s true, she acknowledged.
“…but I want you to know I thought what he did was really shitty, and I told him so at the time. I’m glad for his sake that you two managed to work things out but if you’d divorced him, I wouldn’t have blamed you one bit. You deserved better.”
Cassidy blinked. That was the most personal thing Max had ever said to her in all the years she’d known him. As Phillip’s best friend, he and Amber spent a lot of time with them socializing, but he was her husband’s friend—not hers—and she and Amber had never clicked the way Max and Phillip had hoped they would. The way she’d hoped they would by nature of the sheer amount of time they spent together as couples.
Max and Phillip had met in undergraduate school when they’d been assigned the same dorm room. They’d clicked, becoming good friends. After being accepted to the same law school, they’d shared an apartment. Max had been Phillip’s best man when she and Phillip married. They’d interned and eventually were hired on with the same, A-list law firm upon passing the Bar.
Knowing she needed to say something, she settled on, “Thanks, Max. You saying so means a lot to me.”
“Yeah, well…” He seemed to flounder. “I wanted you to know.”
She laid a hand briefly on his arm. “Thank you.”
As an uncomfortable silence descended, Cassidy allowed her thoughts to drift back to the time when she and Phillip had come close to divorcing. It had taken over a year of intensive counseling to salvage their marriage, and had been another six months before Cassidy had allowed herself to believe that they just might make it “till death do us part.”
Now their marriage was much more stable. They still had issues—and really, what relationship didn’t?—but Cassidy felt confident in their willingness and ability to work through their problems. Or to seek outside help when communication channels broke down. According to her parents, that ability was the hallmark of any lasting marriage.
In fact, she was so sure they’d make it that after much debate and discussion, earlier this year she’d finally agreed with Phillip that it was time to start their family. From the very beginning, on the same night he’d proposed, Phillip had made no secret of his desire for a large family. Coming from a single-parent home where he was an only child, he’d always lamented the fact that he’d grown up without siblings. Cassidy, also an only child, had been raised in an upper-middle class, two-income home where she’d always had the love and support of her parents and been content with her status as the sole focus of her parents’ attention.
She had been amenable to the idea as long as the money was there to support them. Fortunately, lack of money had never been one of their marital issues. They both had demanding, time-consuming, lucrative careers. Phillip was a trial lawyer specializing in workman’s compensation cases and she a doctor specializing in obstetrics. Their combined incomes afforded them a nice home, expensive vehicles, and growing savings accounts.
She touched her abdomen. Maybe this week, during what Phillip called their “second honeymoon,” it would happen.
The slowing of the vehicle brought Cassidy out of her musings. Max turned into the lot in front of their unit and parked the car in the closest spot he could find to the entrance. They both exited the car and stood looking at their purchases. They glanced at each other and the three flights of stairs they’d have to climb to reach their unit, before glancing back at the mountain of shopping bags covering the rear.
Cassidy smirked. “Guess we kind of overdid the shopping thing, huh?”
Max wagged a finger at her. “No, ma’am. There’s no we involved. The majority of these bags are yours.”
“Uh-huh, but the golf clubs aren’t,” she pointed out.
He winced. “Yeah, those are mine, but I can leave them in the trunk.” He glanced at their purchases again. “We might need reinforcements.”
Cassidy dug her cell phone out of her purse and sent her husband a text. Need help. Come down. “I’ll grab the food and take it up. Phillip should be down any second, that is, if he’s not asleep on the couch. If so, the smell of it should get him up and moving. You think Amber’s still by the pool?”
Max cast a glance at the sky where the mid-summer sun still shined bright. “Most likely.”
“You’d better call and let her know we brought dinner. She should be getting hungry by now,” Cassidy advised. She looped her purse over one arm and then hefted the two brown paper bags full of little Chinese boxes. The heavenly aroma that wafted up from the contents made her mouth water. “You know, on second thought, this food smells so good, maybe we should eat first and worry about the stuff later.”
Max looked at her and grinned. “Hungry?”
“Starved.” She used her hip to close the passenger side door and headed for the stairs, more than ready to eat.
“Will anything break if I consolidate some of these?” he called after her.
She paused and thought of the contents. “No, I don’t think so. The breakables are wrapped pretty tight.” In addition to clothes and shoes, Cassidy had done some souvenir shopping for family and friends back home.
“In that case, I may be able to get most, if not all, of these. Hold up a minute.”
She waited patiently while he scrounged around in the backseat. A lot of the vendors used plastic grocery bags that looped easily over the forearm. Some used paper, but those were for smaller items that should easily fit into larger ones. Mindful that she’d have to pack all of her purchases for the plane home, other than the two pairs of shoes she simply couldn’t pass up, she’d limited herself to clothes, jewelry, hair accessories and the like.
“I know your arms are full, but if you can get a few of these lighter ones, I think we can manage.”
Cassidy crossed over to him, set the paper bags holding the food on the hood, and held out an arm. “Hook ’em here.” As he complied, she asked,
“What about your clubs? I thought you were putting those in the trunk?”
“I think they’ll be safe. This isn’t the type of place where you have to worry about break-ins.”
She glanced once more at their luxurious surroundings. “True.”
“Ready?” Max asked as he locked the door and slipped the keys in his shorts’ pocket.
“Yes.” She scooped the food bags into her arms and led the way.
They could have used the elevator, but the three-sectioned, U-shaped building only had one, which was in the middle. They’d parked on the far end, near their unit. The stairs weren’t fun, but she managed. It helped that they were the kind that wrapped around with a short landing every twelve or so steps. Less stress on the thigh muscles. Still, by the time they reached their front door, she was breathing heavy.
“I need to hit the gym while we’re here,” she panted musingly.
Max laughed. “You’re in great shape and you know it. Don’t you jog?”
“On the treadmill, at the gym, when I get the chance. That, a bit of free weights and yoga, but maybe I need to add the stair climber to my routine. Can you reach your key? Mine’s in my purse.”
Max slid the card in the slot and waited for the light to switch to green before pushing down the handle. The door opened with a quiet snick. He stood to the side for Cassidy to enter first.
The layout of the condo was simple. It opened into a small foyer, off which was the entrance to the two bedrooms—master suite on the left and guest on the right. Then came a short hallway containing the second bathroom on the right, a small closet containing the washer and dryer and a fairly large pantry shielded by sliding doors on the left. The rest of the floor plan was open. The kitchen sat on the right with a bar opening up to the dining room that flowed into the living room. The living room opened up onto a balcony, overlooking the manmade lake. It was all done in shades of coral and slate blue, with a seashell motif on the wallpaper trim. Cassidy loved the upscale casual feel to the place.
